Mountaineers beat Kentucky for first time, advance to Sun Belt title game – WV MetroNews

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia isn’t striving to play from behind, but that method has done nothing to harm the Mountaineers through a pair of matches in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

On Wednesday, the top seed Mountaineers allowed No. 4 seed Kentucky to score 2:15 into the contest at Dick Dlesk Stadium, creating an early deficit for the home team.

Less than 3 minutes later, Sergio Ors Navarro provided the equalizer, and the WVU defense buckled down the rest of the way, while Carlos Hernando scored what proved to be the winning goal less than 10 minutes into the second half as the Mountaineers picked up the program’s first win over Kentucky in six tries, 2-1.

“The goal didn’t phase us and we got the equalizer very quickly, but incredibly proud with the quality of performance tonight. Really professional and mature at times and some really nice football at times and felt we were dominant the entire way through,” WVU head coach Dan Stratford said. “The way the guys approached the game and the quality and brand of football the guys played, we very much deserved to win this.”

The result allows West Virginia (12-1-6) to welcome Marshall for Sunday’s Sun Belt title game. It’s a rematch of last year’s final, which the Herd won, 3-2. Marshall blanked James Madison 1-0 in the other Sun Belt semifinal Wednesday.

“It’s the game we wanted,” Stratford said. “It’s the best RPI game and the best chance of us squeaking us into the top 8 from a RPI perspective and hopefully having as many home games as possible in the NCAA Tournament. It’s the type of game you want to play in.” 

After rallying from a 2-0 first-half deficit for a 3-2 victory over Georgia Southern in Sunday’s Sun Belt quarterfinal, West Virginia was again forced to play from behind after UK’s Logan Dorsey made the most of extended space after receiving a pass, maneuvered around the Mountaineer defense and blasted a shot with his right foot that got by Marc Bonnaire.

WVU got even 4:55 into the match following a corner kick taken by Frederik Jorgensen that was initially touched by teammate Felix Ewald and wound up off the head of Sergio Ors Navarro and into the back of the net.

It was the 14th goal this season for both Dorsey and Ors Navarro.

“We started the game well and it helps to have such a mature group that has been in this position before,” Stratford said. “It’s something that hasn’t phased us. I assure you it’s not the game plan, but this group has shown time and time again they’re capable of showing really good resilience and coming through adverse moments like this.”

Neither team scored again for the remainder of the first half, though the Mountaineers generated more quality chances.

“We felt like we were the better team. We felt like we had played well. I didn’t feel like a great deal needed to change,” Stratford said. “There were some minor details and the alertness and awareness in some of our communication to nullify their capacity to get behind us or nullify moments where we would lose territory and we’re defending a long throw with a difficult wind. Those details are really important against a team with Kentucky’s athleticism and size. The message was kind of stay the course and continue to trust that the longer the game goes on, the more our depth and energy levels will kick in and we’ll be the team that finishes stronger.”

Jorgensen delivered another gem off a set piece to give WVU its first lead less than 9 minutes into the second half. This time, Jorgensen sent a ball into the box on a free kick and it found the head of Carlos Hernando, who made the most of the golden opportunity and sent it past UK goalkeeper Casper Mols.

“We’ve never beat Kentucky as we talked about,” Jorgensen said. “You could tell from everybody today we wanted to beat Kentucky and be in that final Sunday. It’s a little sweet that it’s against Marshall. We want to beat Marshall at home in the final and get that revenge from last year.”

It marked WVU’s second goal off a set piece in the match and its third goal off a set piece over its last two games.

“Two games ago, we ripped up everything we were doing and started again,” Stratford said of the team’s approach to set pieces. “Sometimes you just have to give a fresh pair of eyes to it and for the players to see it that way as well.” 

Bonnaire stopped one shot and Mols made two saves.

The Wildcats fell to 6-6-6. They entered the match 3-0-2 all-time against the Mountaineers.